Player-written books
are exactly what they sound like: books written by those who play the game, just like you! For the purpose of describing this topic efficiently, when the word book is used here, it is to describe only the player-written books after they have been customized with text and saved. Notebook is used to refer only to the blank, freshly crafted version of the same item, before it is customized with player-written text. Uses for Player-Written Books Like real-world books, there are countless reasons why one may write a book and as many genres too. The following are suggestions, based on books commonly written by players in EQ2: Fiction - tales of adventures, poetry, or any theme. Typically, these are set in Norrath. *Roleplay - tales may include fellow players as a part of the story. Books of this kind may be used as means to advance roleplay. *Even non-roleplayers may decide to write a story themed to suit the EQ2 world, just for fun. Nonfiction - books of this kind tend to serve a very literal, useful purpose. *Guides - books designed as in-game guides act like mini wiki's that can be carried in your in-game inventory. For example, a veteran player may hand a new player a basic guide to choosing a tradeskill. *Guild documents - like the history of the guild, guild rules, and so forth. *Supply lists or ledgers - for example, a book may be written as list of supplies used to make popular gear or other items to sell on the broker. Using a Player-written Book Books can be placed in player housing or in guild halls. *See the Decorating Houses page for information on book placement. The information below this point focuses on reading. *To read a book that you've placed or one you encounter in another house or hall, simply double click it to open it and read. *To read a book in your inventory, locate it and either double click it to open it automatically or R click on it to see the Options. If working from the Options, choose Read to open the book. :Published Homes and Libraries: Those who publish their homes on the Housing & Leaderboards can edit books they have written even after a house is published. It is only necessary to un-publish a house if you need to copy the book, because the book must be in your inventory to copy it. In some cases, your fellow Norrathians may create a public library or libraries using player housing. Often, these contain books created by the developers, like The History of Koada'Dal, but in some cases, the libraries may include texts written by players as well. To find libraries, check the Housing & Leaderboards on your server. You can also inquire in the Homeshow section of the forums, ask in the homeshow chat channel. To learn more about the decorating community and how to access the chat channel, see Decorating Houses. How to Obtain Notebooks and Books Notebooks are created by a Sage who is and has: *Tradeskill level 50+ who has completed the quest, In A Bind. *Tradeskill level 90+ and who has enough faction can buy and scribe the special recipe book, Sage Secrets of Quel'ule. Everything below this point assumes you are not a sage and have not attatined either of the above. :Buying Notebooks: Check the broker for blank notebooks. This is done by searching for the generic term, Notebook, or by using a descriptor for specific types shown the Notebooks by Tier section below. *For example, you might search the broker using the terms, "hidebound notebook" if you only want to find those on the broker. *Blank notebooks can sell out fast on the broker. If you don't see the notebook you're looking for ask those in the crafting chat channel if they can make what you need. See the Broker page for an image that shows where the Advanced filter is located. :Buying Player-written Books: To buy books that other players have already written in, use the Advanced search feature on the broker. The drop-down list includes Player-written books. If you're not familiar with using the Advanced search on the broker, see the Broker page. *Remember, player books can not be edited by anyone but the author, so buy these books for the content! *Player written books can also sell out fast. If you're looking for a book of a specific genre (fiction, a non fiction guide, etc.) you may need to ask in several chat channels or network with friends. :*For example, those in the roleplay community may have stories and poetry to offer, while those in the crafting or general chat channels may have more guides and other non-fiction books to offer. How to Create a Book After you understand a few important things, creating a book is as simple as obtaining a notebook, writing content inside, and saving it. To minimize any confusion or possible frustration, read about creating books below, before you start writing. Authorship and Editing For some players, the most confusing thing centers on who authored a book and who can edit it. *Only the original author of a book can edit that book. :*When it comes to editing, "that book" is also literally that single copy of the book. While copying a book (described later) can be done with a few clicks, this is not the case with making edits. If you need to update a book, it must be done manually for each book or you can opt to create a new, revised edition of the book instead. :*It also means that the moment you click on Save to create the book, you are the author of that book. You can not wipe out the all of the info and title to save it as a blank book again. You can only edit the title and contents. :*Due to both of the above factors, make sure you are happy with the contents and that all of your typos are corrected before you make any copies of your book. *You can not edit a book your charcater did not write. :*The authorial distinction is character-bound, not account-bound! In other words, you can not create the book on your main character and have your alts edit it. :*Any book the author has access to can be edited and updated forever. Book Lengths See the Editing Details image to understand some descriptions in this section. There are no precise limits on the length a book can be based on a word count or character limit. This is due to many technical factors, but it can be said that the typical book is 10-20 pages long. *All of the characters (both letters and symbols) and blank spaces between the characters all fill the book and add pages. :*A green "progress bar" shows the % of total space you have filled up. *You can choose a Norrthain language for the book, but some languages use different fonts. The font effects the way letters and other characters occupy space in a book. :*For example, if change your book and save it in Gnomish instead of Common, it may gain or loose a page or two. *What you see in the preview mode while writing is not always appear exactly the same after it is saved. That is, you might see a sentence ending on one page, but when it is saved it stretches to the next page. You can edit it and use blank spaces or other characters balance or align text. :*This quirk ties into the "many technical factors" that effect the book length, but it only takes a bit of experimentation to overcome this quirk. Tips, Tricks, and Considerations *After you complete the work, you can save it in one of the following languages too: Common, Guktan, Gnomish, Stout, Gnolish. See the Editing Details image for the location of the drop-down to choose a language. *Give credit where credit is due; for example, if you base your work on the information found on a website (like the wikia!) acknowledge the site and/or any authors you may be able to name. *Leave ample blank space during formatting so readers can "rest" and avoid creating books that are "walls of text". :*If you have a long story or a lot of information, it is far better to make a Volume 1, Volume 2 and so on, than to jam pack a small book read on a computer screen. 'Creation in Steps' #Locate the notebook in your inventory #Double click on a blank notebook to open it and click the Edit button #Add a title; the can be edited later, but you can't save the book without a title of some kind #Write in the book #When you are satisfied, click Save How to Make Copies of Your Book If you create a book you're proud of or one you think will make you wildy rich in plat, it is quick and easy to make multiple copies of the book with a few clicks. *Only the original author of a book can make a copy a book. You can not automatically copy a book you did not write. :*It is also in very poor taste to manually copy a book without the original author's expressed permission. :*Technically, anything you publish in-game is under the (real world) copyright of Daybreak. While they are respectful of player-written work, you can not expect them to fully protect it either. For this reason, write things you want to share freely, but you may want to save your most prized and cherished writing for the real world instead. *The style of notebook you use when making copies does not matter. For example, you can copy the same text from a book that was written in a Waxed Leather Notebook into one Tanned Leather Notebook and one Scaled Leather Notebook if you choose. :*This is useful if you want a copy that fits into a bookshelf standing up in a guild hall, but want another version of the same book that lays flat in a house. You may also elect to make copies in different notebooks, based on access to common vs. rare hide (the main component to make notebooks). 'Copying in Steps' #Locate the complete book in your inventory #R click on it and choose Copy from the options. #*The notebook's icon background will turn red so you know it is selected. #Locate a blank notebook in your inventory. #*The arrow icon for your mouse is outlined in blue when hovering over blank books. #*If the mouse arrow icon is outlined in red if the book has already been used and can not be used for copies. #Click the blank notebook (blue outline) to add the copied text. *When you mouse over the notebooks and books a tooltip window will appear that has either the *'This page is still in the process of being created. Hold on!' Notebooks by Tier If you are not familiar with gathering and crafting, see the Harvesting Timeline to learn where you can obtain the materials a sage needs to make them for you. If you are not familiar, the word Tier (more or less) refers to a level range for materials. *All of the notebooks, except the Que'ule Researcher's Notebook, have the name of the hide used while making them in their names. *The vast majority of the notebooks are from made with common and rare materials from T1-T8 (from the sage-only Bookbinding for Beginners recipe book). *There are only three T9 notebooks, two use common materials and one uses a rare pelt (from the sage-only Sage Secrets of Quel'ule recipe book). From Common Materials * - (T1) * - (T2) * - (T3) * - (T4) * - (T5) * - (T6) * - (T7) * - (T8) :Two T9 Notebooks use common materials: * - (T9) * - T9 Rawhide-leather-notebook.jpg|Rawhide Leather Notebook Tanned-leather-notebook.jpg|Tanned Leather Notebook Boiled-leather-notebook.jpg|Boiled Leather Notebook Etched-leather-notebook.jpg|Etched Leather Notebook Strengthend-leather-notebook.jpg|Strengthened Leather Notebook Stonehide-leather-notebook.jpg|Stonehide Leather Notebook Horned-leather-notebook.jpg|Horned Leather Notebook Bristled-leather-notebook.jpg|Bristled Leather Notebook Mottled-leather-notebook.jpg|Mottled Leather Notebook Queule-research-notebook.jpg|Que'ule Research Leather Notebook From Rare Materials All of the notebooks in this section require the use of one rare hide (and other materials) when they are created by a sage. * - (T1) * - (T2) * - (T3) * - (T4) * - (T5) * - (T6) * - (T7) * - (T8) :One T9 notebook is made with a rare pelt. * - (T9) Waxed-leather-notebook.jpg|Waxed Leather Notebook Cured-leather-notebook.jpg|Cured Leather Notebook Cuirbolli-leather-notebook.jpg|Cuirboilli Leather Notebook Engraved-leather-notebook.jpg|Engraved Leather Notebook Augmented-leather-notebook.jpg|Augmented Leather Notebook Scaled-leather-notebook.jpg|Scaled Leather Notebook Dragonhide-leather-notebook.jpg|Dragonhide Leather Notebook Hidebound-leather-notebook.jpg|Hidebound Leather Notebook Spotted-leather-notebook.jpg|Spotted Leather Notebook